The followers of the Goddess of Mystery were becoming anxious as the
month of Lanosian, year 130 of the Midnight Age progressed. Early in the
month, vast elemental charges tore the sky, and one by one the Inspired
Ones - those touched by Niuri's essence a couple of years prior - were
disappearing. Moreover, words from the pen of Her long-dead priestess
Sekhtet predicted powerful events that very month; and a prophecy spoken
from the lips of the Goddess Herself, apparently without Her conscious
intent, warned of the possibility of grave danger: "The pyramid shall
empty and the mists shall rise, and the world shall see whether Mystery
live or die."

Choosing engagement over inaction, these supporters divided to
investigate several possibilities. Lua Runae and Takara Justii led the
dryad Ahialna into the forbidding Morgun Forest to probe the dangerous
mists therein as well as an obsidian plinth watched over by the Elder
Oak, in both cases to discern whether they pertained to the prophecies.
Irawn D'baen and Anashia Nachzeher journeyed to the homelands of the
missing inspired ones, searching Riparium and Polyargos in vain.
Returning dejected to the Lunare-Amaratha castle where the Inspired Ones
were billeted, Irawn agreed to take the inspired Grook scholar Borambu
to the Mamashi to increase his geographical knowledge. There, they
encountered the gloomy Eidar River, shrouded in heavy mists that
prevented physical access to the river and perception of what lay
beyond.

When they reported this suspected connection to the mysterious prophecy
to the others investigating, they received important news in return.
Zoriah Cardinalis and Nevernaught Lunare had led Apocheznur, the
inspired vampire who was the only remaining servant of Niuri attuned to
the physical elements, around the Tarean peak upon which She had
vanquished the earth elemental Fordrock fourteen years before at great
cost to Her temple and Realm. Seeing the elemental whirlwind, pool, and
fissure that remained thereon, Apocheznur surmised that there must be a
focal point for the earthen element as well. Despite the risk of the
rising sun, the three searched diligently, and with the aid of Mikal
Nadum and Alsai Forestwalker they discovered a passage into the great
mountain hidden behind a boulder. Soon, they stood in a profound chamber
well within the mountain's depths, one that was situated at equal
distances through the stone from the fissure, whirlwind, and pool. The
conclusion was drawn: the mountain itself was the pyramid spoken of in
the prophecy.

Having announced Her wish for an audience with the Duiran Council, Niuri
soon met with Caspien the Benandanti and other representatives, attended
by Zoriah who watched closely and administered to Her bubbles of
curative smoke, painstakingly generated through the efforts of Her
followers, which allowed Her to manifest without harm. There She
explained that the pool, fissure, and whirlwind served to focus their
particular elements around them, but the absence of a similar focus for
earth was creating an imbalance that sought to destroy Her. The dreams
of Mortalkind together with Her own research, She announced, had granted
Her the conclusion that one of Duiran's monoliths was the proper conduit
for the fourth focus. The forestals argued fiercely, however, that to
remove a monolith from any forest would harm its connection to the
Heartwood beyond repair. Though all sides sought to reach understanding,
they found nothing but impasse, and Niuri vanished to the ether, Her
mien one of dejection.

The combinations of elements were battering the Goddess of Mystery as
She made another appearance at the mountain. She divided the crowd that
had gathered to assist the servants of Mystery into four groups, each
one gathering in one of the locations of elemental focus. One after the
other, the groups poured quantities of pure element into the elemental
focus in their area. The power was sufficient to restore the Inspired
Ones of water, fire, and air; however, in the earthen chamber that
lacked a focus, Apocheznur could only bear the burden of the pure
element for so long, and he fell to the ground, dead in a mistless
manner that shocked those in witness. Though weak and demoralized, Niuri
was adamant: the final confrontation with the elemental imbalance would
be that very sunset. It was the 25th day of Lanosian, the end of the
portentous month, and Mystery's fate would be resolved once and for all.

Dozens of Aetolians gathered in the northlands that dusk, lending their
support to the Goddess in Her fight. And there was assistance from an
unexpected quarter as well. Theragil Starion and Ravek Orises, acting on
behalf of Duiran, had hurried to the Elder Oak of Morgun with desperate
questions about the obsidian plinth considered earlier in the month.
Though reluctant to make a hasty decision about whether the Morgun
Forest could thrive in its absence, the Elder Oak was prevailed upon to
allow the plinth to be taken from the woods, though only after exacting
a promise of future repayment from the Council. As Niuri was making Her
final preparations, the pair sprinted into the underground chamber and
offered the plinth into Her service. Piling it gratefully among the
fallen rock of the cavern, Niuri bound the earthen element to that spot,
causing the plinth to grow to immense size and to change in composition
into rare molyvdian.

The fourth focal point established with only moments to spare, Niuri
moved back and forth among the four groups in the Tareas as well as to
another group gathered in the shadow of a small forest at the northern
tip of the Mamashi, within hailing distance of the forbidding mists over
the Eidar. As the last moments of Lanosian were spent, the Goddess cried
Her despair unto the heavens: the delicate interdependence of the
elements and the river mists upon one another required Her essence to be
applied simultaneously in over a dozen locations at once. With hope
almost lost, She entreated in the name of the Celestine Himself for the
merest sign that Her eternal undoing was not foretold. At that moment,
the symbolic hourglass emptied and turned upon a truly new day, and
scores of amazed intakes of breath indicated the rejuvenation of hope:
for the date appeared in the minds of all, not as the 1st of Midautumn,
but as the 1st of Niuran.

The Goddess of Mystery drew Herself up to Her full height, and there She
avowed that if Her touch was required across the continent at once, then
so it would be. With a mighty burst of essence, She divided Her being
into dozens of apparitions, positioned at various key locations in the
Tarean Mountains and along the Eidar River. As those present lent their
own strength to the effort, She struck and struck again, until the realm
quaked under Her power. With a soul-crunching tremor, Niuri carved deep
passages into the mountain's interior, casting the elements into
alignment by providing channels for them to intermingle within, and at
the same time tore the watery veil from above the Eidar, rendering the
river passable to all. The pyramid had emptied, and the mists had risen;
and Mystery, though depleted beyond the perceptions of all, had
nevertheless survived.

With wondrous curiosity, the groups at the Tarean peak chanted
Divinely-inspired phrases, and the elemental foci drew them within the
newly-accessible underground passages. There they found with delight the
four elemental servants of Niuri, including the revived Apocheznur. To
the east, the crowd in the Mamashi forded the river to discover, to
their own amazement, a village closed off by the recently dispersed
mists for well over a hundred years. The inhabitants of the village of
Mrenadh greeted the newcomers with devoted welcome, and years of history
were exchanged in fascination by the two groups.

Eventually, Niuri emerged triumphant from Her division into the manifold
apparitions, proclaiming that the passage-seared mountain, known from
that day forward as Mount Kentorakro, would constitute the main part of
Her new temple. Moreover, the inhabitants of Mrenadh had begun
construction of a tower of strong blue glass, devoted to the
then-unknown-to-them Goddess whom they had witnessed vanquish the earth
elemental a decade and a half earlier. Niuri proudly accepted the tower
and its surrounding garden into Her temple complex as well. Thus did the
Goddess of Mystery discover the conclusion of Her transformation, and
thus was the village of Mrenadh reunited with the rest of Sapience,
there to provide opportunities for knowledge and mutual benefit to every
Aetolian visitor.

Penned by my hand on the 3rd of Niuran, in the year 137 MA.